


Feed the Right Wolf

by Roaming Ursa (suppertragedy)



Category: I Remember You - Fandom, Korean Drama, 너를 기억해 | Hello Monster
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Ji-An and Hyun are still an item, Leader Kang constantly finds a certain attorney mind-boggling, Lee Joon Young owns a bookstore, M/M, Min explores relationships outside his family, Queerplatonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-10
Updated: 2015-10-10
Packaged: 2018-04-25 00:04:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4939063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suppertragedy/pseuds/Roaming%20Ursa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Imagine if Lee Jung Min had done right by his sons.<br/>Imagine if he had been able to directly confront little Hyun about the dead animal and disturbing drawings.<br/>Imagine if father and sons had relied on one another to overcome their shared loss and traumas.<br/>Their life then would have been vastly different.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Art Supplies

**Author's Note:**

> First, a big thank goes to my beta AvaCelt.
> 
> Simply, I adore "I Remember You". I've enjoyed the atmospheric and somber plot-line of the drama, however, I also often found myself imagining alternative scenarios in which many horrid events were prevented in time, and certain characters got saved before their "critical period" began. So I ended up turning these ideas into a collection of drabbles, which aims to invoke a familial warmth and provide relief for the characters we adore and any audience who wish to see them in a more light-hearted setting. 
> 
> Although this is a canon-divergence, I'll still try to keep the characters as similar as possible to their original design. Feedback and comments are welcome.
> 
> Enjoy!

At the moment Lee Jung Min has retired. He spends most of his time writing journals and reorganizing the documents he cultivated from his field work over the years. The investigation department still sometimes comes to him for advice when their cases run into dead-ends, but he just sends them straight to his two boys—now young men—instead.

His older son Lee Hyun, 30 years old, is a pathologist at the National Forensic Science Technology Center and is a well-known thriller writer online. How his son manages to make time for writing between his hectic work schedules remains a mystery.

His younger son Lee Min, 28 years old, works as a public juvenile defense attorney. In his spare time he holes up at home and paints away. Except for his family, he allows no one inside his studio—which is not a real problem since they rarely have guests over. Lately Min has turned to tamer color palettes, and the figures in his paintings are looking less distraught. But looking closer, his family could still see the chronic torment that has been plaguing his mind since childhood.

Jung Min sometimes catches Hyun standing stock-still in front of Min’s rows of paintings when his younger son isn’t at home. And the father always knows by the taunt back of his older son that he’s bracing himself for the onslaught of distressing memories which have embedded themselves into the eerie figures and heavy brushstrokes on the canvases. He is, again, being unfairly eschewed by the guilt of tragic events that were out of his once tiny hands.

There are wounds that don’t heal wholly. Lee Jung Min is just glad they didn’t defeat his sons. There were times they feared that Min had been lost to them; if so, losing Hyun then would have been inevitable. That horrid thought had haunted him for years, but for the sake of his sons the man just quietly endured until his fear became a memory.

Now during dinner, Hyun teases that one day Min will become a contemporary artist that is famous for being “prettier than flowers.” Lee Min Jung guffaws while Min glowers at his brother, his salad fork poised dangerously in the air.

But Hyun hasn’t once mentioned Min's hobby to his old friend Na Bong Sung, who happens to be a resourceful artist and informant. The only time he intervenes with his younger brother’s artistic ventures is whenever the art supplies run noticeably low. These days Hyun has learnt by heart all the art brands in Min’s studio and regularly makes bulk orders online.

If there came a day when their fridge runs out of beers, if there was no toilet paper or shaving creams in their bathroom, and their utility bills weren’t paid in time—honestly, it’s unimaginable since Hyun is a born perfectionist, but let’s just go with it—Min would still never run out of art supplies.


	2. Saturday Suppers

“I’m home.”

“Welcome home, son.” Lee Jung Min looks away from the TV to nod at his younger son who has just shuffled into their living-room. “I thought you got off early on Saturdays?”

From the sofa nearby Hyun lowers his book and asks, “Have you had supper?”

Lee Min loosens the tie on his stiffened neck, the childlike pout he unknowingly reserves for his family is lined with weariness. “One of my clients claims to be innocent but doesn’t have an alibi. He told us he was out of town, drinking with some unknown sports fishermen when the crime took place. Since his trial is scheduled for next week, my team has exhausted itself looking for a witness. And we did it just in time.” Turning to his brother, he shakes his head. “No, I’m starving.”

“I made Pot-au-feu tonight. Give me a moment to warm it up then we can have supper together.” Min frowns while Hyun promptly goes to the kitchen platform adjacent to their living-room.  


“It’s late. Why haven’t you guys had supper yet? Have you been waiting for me?”

“Nah!” Lee Jung Min waves his hand and smiles it off. “Old man Jung next door and me went to play tennis this afternoon, and on our way back we decided to get some ramen. I’m still feeling rather full.” 

Hyun yells all the way from the kitchen, “I got out late too. I just finished cooking before you came in.”

Lee Min puts down his briefcase and takes the spot his brother vacated not so long ago. The cushion is warm to the touch, the foam still adjusted to the contour of the previous sitter, and the airy freshener on the cotton cover mingles with his brother’s familiar cologne. Hyun must have been sprawled here for quite a while, and so was his dad. They had clearly waited to have supper with him. Jung Min clears his throat when catching a knowing glance from his younger son.

“I’m going to help Hyun setting up the table. Go wash up and come down for supper.”

Min smiles when his dad scuttles towards the kitchen platform, but he isn’t in a hurry to retreat to his own room. Instead, he lies down on the sofa as his excitement after solving the case has dwindled down into a mix of relief and fatigue. Min feels sleepy lying on the warm, soft and lightly scented sofa. And so the young man falls asleep amidst the pleasant jangles of cooking-wares, oblivious even to the savory aroma of French stew wafting in the air.

Afterwards, two people are left staring at the foetal sleeping form of Lee Min on the sofa and begin whispering in earnest tones.

“What now, dad? Should we wake him up for supper or no?”

“Late night eating is bad for digestion.”

“Right.”

However, they both fall silent and nobody proceeds to wake Min up.

“He looks so content.”

“He does, indeed. See how much his face softens up?” 

Again, the silence returns.

“Well then, I’d say let him catch some sleep. It’s Saturday night anyway. Meanwhile, we should just chill and watch a baseball game.”

“That’s a good idea, dad.”

And so father and son quietly return to the kitchen and wrap up their food. When Hyun returns to the living-room, he also brings a throw and covers Min with it. Jung Min smiles, thinking proudly to himself that his attentive and capable older son is truly a fortune for any woman who ends up marrying him. Suddenly, said son looks up at him with a displeased frown.

“Dad…”

“Yes, son?”

“You should turn down the volume or it’ll wake him up.”

“Right.” 

That’s how Lee Jung Min spends his Saturday night, with lukewarm French beef stew and a muted baseball game. But it’s alright. He’s getting used to that.


End file.
